UFC's Frank Mir at light heavyweight? Mike Dolce thinks he could do it

While most folks see a recently announced UFC 167 heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Frank Mir as a loser-leaves-town match, Mike Dolce thinks the latter theoretically could have a future at light heavyweight.

Mir, who looks to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat when he meets Overeem in November, has recently suffered losses to the elite of the heavyweight division. But win or lose for Mir, Dolce thinks the 34-year-old former champion could have a future at 205 pounds.

Dolce, a guest on today’s edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio, was asked about the possibility. The weight-cutting and dieting consultant is friends with Mir and is happy to discuss the possibility with him. After working with some of his current clients, Dolce thinks he could get Mir down to the 206-pound limit if the fighter is interested.

“I would have to sit down with Frank, and we’d have to talk about it, and he’d have to talk to his family and things like that,” Dolce said. “What makes sense for him? Frank, he’s a former UFC champion at heavyweight, so I’m not saying he needs to. Could he? Absolutely. Why not? (‘The Ultimate Fighter 17′ winner) Kelvin Gastelum just lost 35 pounds to weigh in at 170, and he went and competed at 194, the same exact weight he was when he won the middleweight title for ‘TUF 17.’ That’s very important.

“We added muscle and lost body fat. He still competed at the same exact weight but with a brand new body. So with Frank, could we do it? I think so. If you’re walking around at 250 pounds with more than 10 percent body fat, I think you could easily make 205 pounds.”

Mir (16-8 MMA, 14-8 UFC) and Overeem (36-13 MMA, 1-2 UFC) fight Nov. 16 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. After losses to Junior dos Santos, Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett, Mir badly needs a win. Granted, he’s still ranked No. 12 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA heavyweight rankings, but with more than 12 years in the sport, Mir likely only has so many fights left.

If he wants to remake himself at 205 pounds for that final run, Dolce thinks it’s a legitimate possibility. Mir weighed in at 248 pounds for his Aug. 31 bout with Barnett, and Dolce just looks at a current client and a former one as proof that Mir could follow suit if he wanted to.

“Johny Hendricks comes down from 215 to make 170, and look at what we’ve done: He’s a No. 1 contender,” Dolce said. “Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson was 261 pounds when he went into camp to fight Lyoto Machida. It was a terrible matchup for ‘Rampage’ … but Quinton went from 261 to 205 and beat Machida in a very tough and action-packed fight.

“So can you compete at a world-class level (despite the cut)? Absolutely. ‘Rampage’ was 15 to 20 pound heavier than Frank is right now. And ‘Rampage’ was not very fat. He has a lot of muscle, a thick-framed dude. He’s 6-foot-2. He’s a big, bad man. … So I think Frank could make it.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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